The greatest outbreak of disease in recorded human history (the Black Death) …
It is still the greatest outbreak of disease in recorded human history. Some estimate that the plague killed 30 percent of the European population, but many others place it around 50 percent. To many Europeans of this time, the apocalyptic Plague seemed like “the end of the world,” and there may have been reason for them to see it this way. No war has ever killed as many people as the “Great Plague” did, and the death toll was easily numbered in the millions. Small wonder, then, that this massive outbreak of the fourteenth century is sometimes known simply as “the Plague,” as it is called in this documentary's title.
This program is available as a special feature in the History Channel DVD of “The Dark Ages”
With apologies to the History Channel, though, I actually recommend against getting the above DVD of “The Plague,” because it is usually available as a special feature on their DVD of “The Dark Ages” (which I review here). Both “The Dark Ages” and “The Plague” are first-class documentaries, though, and one can usually get both by buying “The Dark Ages” instead. Thus, this option usually gets you both for the price of one. But the reader is privileged to do as they please, of course, and I will not try further to dissuade them here. Instead, I will talk more about the “Great Plague” itself, and how the History Channel tells the story in this fascinating documentary.
DVD of “The Dark Ages,” which contains all of their documentary “The Plague” as a special feature
Origins of the plague itself, and comparison to other outbreaks of the bubonic plague in history
This fourteenth-century outbreak seems to have originated in the Mongolian Steppes, which was then the seat of government for the “Mongol Empire.” The disease then spread to China and India before hitting the Islamic world, and eventually made its way to Europe. This documentary focuses on the European part of the story, because this is the more popular topic in the West today (the History Channel's primary audience). It seems that the Mongolians exacerbated the outbreak by putting plague-ridden corpses into catapults, and then sending them plunging into European cities – probably among the first uses of biological warfare in history. This next part may be covering some things a bit out of order here, but their closing segment actually gives some discussion of the later twentieth-century outbreaks of bubonic plague, including in the United States. Nonetheless, nowhere in this documentary do they discuss the earlier “Plague of Justinian” in the sixth century, or discuss the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in the seventeenth century (which were both far more severe than anything that they cover outside their primary topic). I suppose that they mentioned the twentieth-century outbreaks because they aren't as distant from us, and thus seem to be greater threats to us. Nonetheless, one wonders why they did not mention the other (earlier) outbreaks, which were actually more severe in their effects.
Map of the spread of the Black Death, 1346-1353
Symptoms of the disease, and evidence that it was indeed bubonic plague that caused it
The most prominent symptom of this disease was the massive black sore called the “bubo,” the origin of the word “bubonic.” These sores were most common in the lymph nodes of the armpits, necks, and groins of the victims. Other typical symptoms included high fever, bloody coughed-up sputum, major organ failure, internal bleeding, and leakage of blood in the body – all of which could be lethal, and often were at this time. Some have suggested that another disease may have been the culprit here, but an unearthed mass grave has allowed us to analyze the teeth of some of the victims. Not only do these teeth contain the DNA of the victims themselves, but they also contained the bacterial DNA of their killers. The analysis of this DNA confirmed that the culprit was indeed “Yersinia pestis,” the formal name for the bubonic plague bacterium. The History Channel thus rightly shows us this evidence, but then concludes that there were probably two culprits. One, they say, was the “bubonic plague” spread through flea bites (transmitted via rats); while the other was the “pneumonic plague” spread by breathing infected air. In fact, it was probably the same disease transmitted two different ways (one of which may have been a new way); and there was probably no second culprit for the “Black Death.” To these commentators, the disease seems to have spread too fast to be consistent with “bubonic plague,” but it seems to me that the bubonic plague can spread much faster than they here give it credit for.
Mass grave in France, which yielded evidence that the Black Death was bubonic plague, rather than some other disease
This documentary doesn't mention that those who survived probably had genetic immunity …
My biologist father confirmed that this was probably true, making me think that the science here may not be as solid as it could be. In fairness, though, this is primarily a cultural history here; and is not really attempting to focus on the biology involved – treating this as merely incidental to their story. This may be why they don't discuss here how those who survived may have had some sort of genetic immunity, which they later passed on to their descendants. Since most of those who died were people who lacked this immunity, this may help to explain why the later outbreaks of bubonic plague were not as serious as the big one in the fourteenth century.
“Yersinia pestis,” the formal name for the bubonic plague bacterium
Modern science knows much about the Black Death, but the science of the time did not …
Nonetheless, the History Channel does interview some scientists as well as historians, including a scientist from the Center for Disease Control, a government agency in the United States. Much is known about bubonic plague today, but very little was known at the time. People at the time knew about the potential for contagion, as it turned out, and knew that the disease could spread from person to person. Moreover, they knew enough about quarantines to attempt to implement them, but with little success. They could not contain the disease, unfortunately, and did not know about how sanitation problems created ideal conditions for rats. They didn't even know that rats and fleas had a role in spreading the disease. People today associate the bubonic plague with the rats (and rightfully so), but the rats themselves were not so much of a problem as the fleas that they carried and spread. The fleas were the primary transmitter of the “Yersinia pestis” bacteria, since they could bite human beings and spread the disease that way. The medieval physicians did not even know that there were germs at all, since these were invisible to the naked eye. The documentary also mentions how the Pope's personal physician tried to study the disease scientifically, and really did gain some new knowledge of the disease that was unknown to previous generations, by cataloging the symptoms that he observed and the remedies that seemed to work best for them. This man later contracted the disease himself, but nonetheless survived. Later, he would write a treatise on the era's medical science, in which he incorporated his groundbreaking findings about the Black Death.
Oriental rat flea infected with the Yersinia pestis bacteria that cause the Black Death
The “flagellant” movement responded to the Black Death in a strange and fanatical way …
Other documentaries have covered the Black Death from a more scientific standpoint, with biological analysis of its causes, its manner of spread, and its gruesome effects (among other things). But this documentary is more focused on the cultural effects of the outbreak, such as how it affected European society at the time. There was a “flagellant” movement at the time, for example, which was a sort of religious fanaticism. It was the kind of religion that rebelled against the official religion of the church, but nonetheless stayed Christian in their own eyes. Their most extreme beliefs were a need to engage in various acts of brutal self-flagellation as an “atonement” for their sins, which they believed would thus prevent them from getting the disease. These people were popular heroes with some in their time, because others believed that they were actually preventing the plague from spreading in this way. But the church was not very happy with these people, and later tried to crack down on them. But the seeds of the Protestant Reformation had been sown, although they would move away from this “flagellant” movement in later years.
Representation of a massacre of the Jews in 1349, inspired by their being blamed for the Black Death
Organized Anti-Semitic massacres, and the attempts by Pope Clement VI to stop them …
Another unfortunate cultural effect was an increase in Antisemitism, with organized massacres called “pogroms” against the Jews. This was because the Jews were being blamed for the spreading of the disease. Some were forced to confess that they had “poisoned wells” and such (which was not true). But the Pope himself quickly pointed out that the disease had affected Jews as well as Christians, and that they were thus unlikely to have originated a disease that affected them as well as others. The popular search for a scapegoat was so strong that the people ignored the Pope; but to their credit, the Catholic Church had tried to stop the problem anyway.
Pope Clement VI, who tried to protect the Jews from persecution during the Black Death
Other cultural effects of the Black Death …
Other cultural effects included doctors that were refusing to treat patients for fear of getting sick themselves, and priests refusing to give people last rites (a big deal in the Middle Ages) for fear of needing these last rites themselves in the near future. One of the unusual solutions to the problem was that, for a time, the “last confessions” could be given to any man present – or, if no man was present, a woman – something very rare at the time, and since (at least with Catholic clergy). Other effects included a shortage of labor, allowing the peasants of the time to negotiate a better deal with their lords. They were often paid better for their labor after the Black Death than before, or allowed to work for themselves with less interference. This was one of the most important effects of the Black Death, and had huge effects on the economy of Europe.
Citizens of Tournai bury plague victims
Could it happen again?
A key question that often comes up with the Black Death is: “Could it happen again”? As it turns out, bubonic plague is still around today (mostly in Africa), but it can be cured effectively by antibiotics when caught early enough, as it turns out. The documentary itself briefly discusses some modern outbreaks of disease (and not just bubonic plague). For example, AIDS is mentioned, as are a few other diseases of contemporary times (although coronavirus is not mentioned, because this was made before the COVID-19 outbreak). The sanitation conditions in the Western world are so much better today than they were in the Middle Ages, and so bubonic plague now has a harder time spreading here. I admit freely that I don't know the “ins and outs” of disease control, since I majored in business rather than biology. But I do know that these past outbreaks can tell us much about the pathology involved in these diseases, and how to contain the spread of other illnesses that are like them.
The dance of death, or “Danse Macabre,” a medieval image inspired by the Black Death
Conclusion: This program is an excellent (and entertaining) introduction to the Black Death
Our knowledge of the past is not perfect, of course, but it is very valuable in what it does have to offer us. If one wants practical knowledge from past experience, there are few episodes that tell us more about pathology than the Black Death. Thus, this story may well tell us how to protect ourselves against like diseases in the future. But you don't have to be a disease control specialist (or any sort of scientist) to appreciate this program. Even laypersons like me will find some amount of entertainment value in it, and be captivated by the sheer human drama of the story.
Footnote to this blog post:
As mentioned earlier, this documentary is also available as a special feature on the History Channel DVD of “The Dark Ages” (which I review here). Thus, by getting this package, you can usually get both documentaries for the price of one. This is the option that I recommend to my readers.
However, the reader is privileged to do as they please; and I will link to both options below, so that interested readers may have both options among others.
“The Plague” DVD at Amazon (see disclaimer in footnote above)
“The Dark Ages” DVD at Amazon (which usually includes all of “The Plague” as a special feature)
Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate marketer, and can sometimes make money when you buy the product using the link(s) above.
If you liked this post, you might also like:
A review of “The Dark Ages” (History Channel)
A review of “The Crusades: Crescent and the Cross” (History Channel)
A review of “The Wars of the Roses: A Bloody Crown”
A review of “The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance”
A review of PBS's “Influenza 1918” (American Experience)
Part of a series about
European history
The Black Death
This list covers Europe through the Renaissance. For Europe since the Renaissance, click here.
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